Today's Sports

I love sports. I particularly like high school, most college sports, the NFL and major league baseball.
I wouldn’t give a plugged nickel for pro soccer or hockey. But even the sports I love need to cut back on their seasons.
If you think about it, we are currently playing high school football, basketball and wrestling. There is college soccer, basketball, football and other college sports being played along with pro football and basketball. Pro basketball will go way into the baseball season next June.
It is just too much.

Breds scrimmage at Rupp Saturday
to open season
The season didn’t open officially until Monday night, but the Harrison County Thorobreds had an exceptional opportunity to begin Saturday morning at Rupp Arena.
The Breds scrimmaged against the Green County Dragons coming away with a 41-27 victory. Green County, much like the Thorobreds, suffered severe losses by graduation and were playing five new starters. Harrison County took advantage of this and using pressure,, caused 19 turnovers 11 of them steals.

Harrison County’s Middle School boys’ basketball season began Wednesday evening at the middle school with the Bracken County Polar Cubs as the opponent.
The seventh grade game opened the evening and it didn’t take long for Harrison County to establish superiority. Zack Pulliam scored eight of his team high 21 points in the opening period as the seventh grade Colts doubled the score 12-6 in the first quarter.
Brock Jenkins had nine in the second period as the lead was stretched to 10 points at the half, 29-19.

As 55-year veteran coach Russ Riegel puts it “Experience is the word. We have a really great bunch of athletes in grades six through 12. For the first time in my 18 years, we have a program of athletes who want to be wrestlers.”
Of course, some of the experience is in the coaching staff. Riegel’s 55 years (the last 18 at HCHS) and No. 1 assistant Luke Tucker’s eight years gives the Harrison County staff an edge on most of the competition.

The Harrison County Cross Country program held its annual awards program Saturday at the County Extension Office.
Three runners received senior awards as they have completed their careers as cross country runners. They are Chelsee Mattox, who ran from 2008-2010, Shelbie Wright, who also has 2008-2010 on her resume, and Keenan Palmer, who ran from 2007-2010.
The 2010 Rookie of the Year was Caylin Mattox, while her sister Chelsee was the most improved Fillies runner. Jacob Marsh was the most improved for the Thorobred’ runners.

Depending on what team you support, where you live and what sport or sports you follow different broadcasters have influenced your opinion of the game.
I have been fortunate for the biggest part of my life to live in an area where high school sports have been broadcast so that was my first exposure to broadcasters.
WTCJ in Tell City had a man who owned a jewelry store who was also the play-by-play man with the high school band director filling the color guy position for the football and basketball broadcasts.

Youth League Basketball sign up
this Saturday
The Cynthiana Harrison County Recreation Department is having youth league basketball sign ups this Saturday at Sports Unlimited. The sign up is for pre-K through sixth grade from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. There will also be a sign up period Saturday, Nov. 27, from 10 a.m. until noon. Fees are the same as last year. Any questions please contact the recreation department.

First year head coach Piper Akin is excited about her new team’s improvement in the two or so weeks they have practiced this year.
“The girls have given great effort and are working together well as a team,” she commented after the scrimmage last Friday.
“Sayre played a 2-3 zone against us and we adjusted pretty well to it as the game went on,” she said.

As I have gotten older, my skills as I remember them in different sports have improved a great deal.
I am not the only person that falls into this category I am sure, but I may be one of the few to admit it.

The scene was the Civic Center at Rupp Arena for the Bluegrass Regional competition on Saturday, Nov. 13. The Harrison County cheerleading squad faced the toughest competition in the area as nationally ranked North Laurel and perennial 10th region powerhouse George Rogers Clark were two of the squads from all over Kentucky who were present to win the right to go to Florida in February.
The Harrison County team opened the season with a third place finish and qualified for the NHSCC in Orlando in February 2011.